One more victim of Walmart greed

[Clipper]

The latest victim of Walmart's corporate greed. They run roughshod over small business in their endeavor to make more and more money off the sweat of the hard working "little guy." The dairy industry is suffering badly enough without Walmart pushing Dean Foods into bankruptcy. The impact leaves Kentucky dairy farmers with no place to market their milk.

America's dairy farmers continue to struggle and every day more and more small farms are going out of business because they are not making a profit. Everyone reaps a decent profit from milk but the farmer that produces it. The margin at the farm level is a mere pittance compared to the much larger profits made by processors, and retailers.

Not only do they suffer from the low profit margin compared to the cost of production, they now compete with products that contain absolutely NO milk and yet are labeled as "milk." Almond milk, soy milk, and other plant based products which are nothing more than juice of plants. Almond milk should be labeled as "nut juice," not milk. Milk is a natural product of lactation, not the squeezing or processing of plants.

The impact of Walmart's greed and the subsequent bankruptcy of Dean Foods, continues to roll downhill. Locally we are reading about a Tennessee based dairy processor, and subsidiary of Dean Foods that is suffering as a result of the Dean Foods bankruptcy.

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I love Almond milk. The unsweetened variety. In the long run it is healthier. But I do have to have my half and half in my coffee.

[Clipper]

Healthier or not PB, it is NOT milk. It should not be marketed as such.

I had to go out with the dog and then eat breakfast. The dog doesn't wait while I finish a thread on here, haha. She makes it quite clear that she wants to go out thank goodness.

Back to the subject of Walmart and their effect on dairy farmers in Kentucky, and as a subsequent result, the bankruptcy filing of Dean Foods. The bankruptcy effects a locally prominent brand of dairy products, produced in Athens Tennessee. Mayfield Diary produces a high quality premium grade ice cream that is very popular here and they also bottle milk that is carried in just about every retail outlet that carries milk. It is carried in the dairy case next to the store brand milks and is preferred by a large segment of shoppers. The actual impact on Mayfield, and subsequently to the consumer's pocket book remains to be seen, however the immediate impact on Kentucky dairy farmers was immediately felt when dairy farmers were left without a market for their milk, and were forced out of the dairy business. Forced out of business as a direct result of greed of the Bentonville corporate giant that continues to grow while the quality of their products and customer service shrinks. It is not only the cashiers that are being put out of work. It is not only the obvious loss of employees that we used to be able to find if we needed help in the departments in the store. It now reaches beyond Walmart employees and has put innocent dairy farmers out of business, and left them struggling to find another agricultural endeavor and product by which they might utilize their land and equipment to make a profit and feed their families.

They don't care about the impact on local economies or local businesses. They don't care about the people that their greed puts out of work. All they care about is putting another nickel in the pocket of corporate millionaires by peddling more and more of their discounted foreign made crap and their waterlogged frozen and thawed meat to a cash strapped middle class. Yep. I hate Walmart and I LOVE our nation's dairy farmers.

[BHU]

WalMart has a long history of driving local small businesses out of business by moving into markets & lowering their prices to the point where small businesses cannot compete. Once the competition is gone, they raise their prices. The company is evil. In this area Wally World carries their own Great Value milk, a half gallon is $1.23 last time I was in there. They also carry Byrne Dairy milk, which cost more. Guess what? People are buying the Great Value brand. Once Byrne is gone, you can bet your life that the GV price will go up. That's how the company screws over the competition.

[Clipper]

The Dean Foods bankruptcy is not a direct result of Walmart's opening a facility of their own, but it is a death knell for the dairy farmers in that area of Kentucky. Many factors have pushed the conglomerate into filing for Chapter 11 protections. It remains to be seen how much impact that will have on our local Mayfield Dairy products. Mayfield milk and ice cream is produced in Athens Tn, about 160 miles from here. There is a Mayfield distribution hub in Kingsport that services our area and SW Virginia. It is always fresh and lasts until well past the dates on the jug. I buy Mayfield milk when I shop at Kroger's. Their store brand milk comes from a distribution center somewhere in Ohio or Indiana. I have noticed in the past that when the date on the jug rolls around or even before, their milk will curdle in your coffee. When I shop at Food City markets however, the store brand milk is fresher tasting when you buy it and it lasts longer than Kroger's milk. They carry a broad selection of brands of milk. They have two grades of their own label milk. There is a Food Club product that is lower in cost and quality. I have never tried that brand of milk. I just find it hard to believe that with the difference in price that the quality could be as good as their higher priced store brand. They also carry Mayfield milk, as well as Fresh Life, which is a Coca Cola subsidiary. Then there is the wide array of so called milks of the non bovine variety.

With Walmart's distribution system I find it hard to believe that the milk would be fresh when delivered to the stores. Freshness is one of the factors that sent us back to Price Chopper and Hannaford when we lived up their. Although we seldom bought meat at any of the above, when they first opened the supercenter at the Riverside Mall, I was turned off by Walmart's meats after picking up packages of ground chuck that still had frost on the shrink wrap and bloody water in the Styrofoam tray. They don't even have meat cutters in their stores. Our meats when we lived there came from Chanatry's, Pulaski Meat Market, or Meelan's Market in Clarks Mills, stores that actually noted for, and took pride in providing fresh and high quality meats.

I am fussy about the quality and freshness of meats. If I don't see a grinder, a saw, and a meat cutter with a bit of blood on his smock, wielding a scimitar or boning knife, I don't want their meat. I don't mind paying a bit more in order to be able to have a meat cutter cut steaks to order or grind a chuck roast into ground chuck. In summer I like to be able to order a nice fresh, plump, bright colored chicken and have the meat cutter cut it in half for cooking on the grill. Not too long ago my sister brought us 4 or 5 pounds of chicken legs and thighs that she had purchased at Walmart in a 10lb bag. She had paid less than 5 bucks for the entire 10lb bag and wanted to split them with us because we have often had them come for supper when Kathy makes chicken and dumplings. The Walmart chicken was so white and gray looking one would think the chicken died from acute anemia. It was so tough that we ended up using it strictly for soup where it could simmer for a while, be pulled from the bone and simmered for a few more hours. It was like rubber bands. To me that represents no big bargain.

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I know it is not milk but that is the industries problem not Walmarts.

On the one hand, the FDA commissioner has correctly pointed out that almonds do not lactate. On the other, nobody thought they did. The word “milk” has been long been used to describe whitish liquids that don't necessarily come from mammary glands.Jul 19, 2018

Almond milk is a plant milk manufactured from almonds with a creamy texture and nutty flavor, although some types or brands are flavored in imitation of dairy milk. ... It can also be made at home using a blender, almonds and water.

vitals.lifehacker.com/does-almond-milk-deserve-to-be-called-milk-1827718641

I don't care what they call it but apparently it is a healthier choice.